Especially hobby and sport shooters have to reach deeper into their pockets at the moment. (icon photo)
KEYSTONE // Christian Beutler
Weapon ammunition is becoming more and more expensive and scarcer. This applies primarily to hunters and sport shooters. The war in Ukraine is not the reason for this.
If you are a target shooter or shoot privately at shooting ranges, you may have heard this sentence more often in recent months: “Sorry, just sold out.” And if the ammo you wanted was available, you probably paid more than you want for it.
What is missing, among others 9mm ammunition for handguns, reports the ORF. Shotgun and sports cartridges in caliber .223 Remington and .308 Winchester are also rare. Some online stores respond to this with quantitative restrictions per buyer.
The fact that the demand for ammunition has increased is also evidenced by the Swiss armament group Ruag. The division with the highest sales in the past financial year was RUAG Ammotec, which produces small caliber ammunition for civil and military purposes. The reason for such high demand is primarily the United States, says RUAG spokesman Clemens Gähwiler when asked by blue News. Many Americans have invested in hunting and sporting ammunition in the last two to three years.
“The corona crisis has come and brought supply problems and difficulties in ordering basic materials such as raw materials and metal,” says Gähwiler. Although everything is slowly returning to normal, the situation is still not easy. Currently, more standard calibers are produced, while more exotic calibers are produced less due to the lack of raw materials caused by the corona pandemic. This increases the demand and the price.
On the other hand, the war in Ukraine is of less importance. Inquiries from other countries have increased, but orders are still in the same range, says Gähwiler.
More Swiss want guns
In Switzerland, demand is growing not only for ammunition, but also for weapons themselves. In the first three months of this year, 11,119 firearms permits and registered contract sales were reported in Switzerland. That’s about 25 percent. more than in the corresponding period of the previous year. This was announced by the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) on Tuesday in response to a question from the National Council.
It was based on figures from 19 of the 26 cantons. There is no central register of weapons in Switzerland. In the first quarter of 2021, 8,615 permits and sales contracts were reported. Against the backdrop of extraordinary events such as the pandemic and the attack on Ukraine, it cannot be unequivocally assessed whether the increased arms purchases are in line with the long-term trend, writes the FDJP. The situation will be monitored.
(with SDA material)